Boodskap van die nuwe JBIV voorsitter, Garth Ford

Geagte Inwoners en Belastingbetalers
 
Eerstens, baie dankie aan ons vorige Voorsitters, Trevor Watkins (vir die herlewing van die JBRA en veral vir die ontwikkeling van ons webwerf) en Paul Hjul (vir sy wettige kundigheid en vir die organisering van die baie suksesvolle protesoptog en daaropvolgende wetlike regsproses).
Hartlike dank ook vir die JBRA komiteelede en ander lede vir die ywerige ondersteuning van die JBRA. 

Ons twee vorige Voorsitters het vindingryk die JBRA Sekretariaat begin, wat positiewe veranderinge in die JBRA moontlik maak.  Die Sekretariaat gaan die administratiewe werklading van die JBRA bestuur.  Die Sekretariaat sal kundigheid en kennis bewaar  soos die Komitee verander van jaar tot jaar.  Die nuwe Sekretariaat is vanaf  totstandkoming absoluut onskatbaar.  Ek dank u hiervoor.
 Onthou asseblief dat die regering aan belastingbetalersverantwoordelik en aanspreeklik is , en nie anders om nie.
 Een van ons vernaamste agenda punte vir hierdie jaar (behalwe om die Kouga Munisipaliteit aanspreeklik te hou vir dienslewering) sal wees om te te monitor en te identifiseer of ons Munisipale rekening korrek is en of enige oorvordering aan die kant van die Munisipaliteit plaasgevind het.  Dit is waar ons u insette nodig het asb!

 Die Sekretariaat het 'n Excel Tabel (‘spreadsheet’)  opgestel  waar Belastingbetalers die periode en hul elektriese gebruik kan invul soos maandeliks gebruik(kliek hier om die artikel te sien of hier om die tabel te kry).  Dit neem net ‘n paar minute om te voltooi.  Die tabel sal aan u toon in watter maand en hoeveel te veel van u verhaal is of nie.    Aangesien elektrisiteiet-koste een van ons grootste uitgawes is sal die staat u van groot hulp wees veral in die toekoms met stygende tariewe.
Net van ons heel eerste lede wat die tabelle voltooi het vir ‘n tydperk van ‘n jaar is ‘n R1000 oorbetaling  van elektrisiteit geidentifiseer.
Die bedrag is insiggewend veral as dit met vele ander belasting betalers ook gebeur, ons praat dus van miloene rande wat oorverhaal word.  Dit is dus essensieel dat elkeen van ons ‘n poging aanwend om ons krag te monitor, ten einde bewyse te genereer en dit dus te gebruik om die Munisipaliteit tot verantwoording te kan roep.
 As dit suksesvol is, dan sal ons ook dieselfde doen met water en riolering  - so gee asseblief al die ondersteuning vir hierdie inisiatief so gou as moontlik!
 Dit kan van onskatbare waarde wees om deurlopend aanspreeklikheid te eis van KM te opsigte van oorheffings maar ook terselfde tyd swak dienslewering en bestuur van die Munisipaliteit bloot te lê.
Elektrisiteit gaan binnekort met sowat 8 tot 13% styg wat ons rekeninge vanselfsprekend weer gaan opjaag.  Dit is dus essensieel dat u betrokke raak by die JBRA, u inligting insleutel op die tabel en ons verwittig van oorbetalings of as u foute bespeur.
Ons dank u by voorbaat vir u ondersteuning.
  

 Een van die belangrikste kwessies wat ons hierdie jaar sal opvolg  salwees om ons rioolstorting- probleme by die hoofstrand en ander gebiede te monitor en reg te stel.
Die ernstige watersuiwering- problem in Wavecrestwat tans ondervind word en die gevolglike gesondheidsprobleme wat dit inhou sal ook dringende aandag geniet en deurlopend opgevolg en gemonitor word. Dit is ‘n uiters belangrike inisiatief en ons sal deurlopend aaan u terugvoering gee.
Hierdie en ander belangrike kwessies wat onder andere deur die DA en ander individue en instansies geopenbaar word, kry min of geen aandag van die Bestuur van die KM huidiglik nie.  Dit blyk duidelik dat die KM dink hulle is aan niemand aanspreeklik vir aspekte, bv swak dienslewering aan die gemeenskap in Jeffreysbaai, korrupsie ens nie.   Dit is natuurlik heeltemal onaanvaarbaar dat KM swak diens as die norm aanvaar en voortdurend hulle  bestuurspligte swak uitvoer en nie die Dorp se behoeftes in ag neem nie.
  Dit hou net swak gevolge in vir Jeffreysbaai!
 Alhowel dit voorkom of die KM wil hê alle belastingbetalers moet die swak situasie aanvaar en dit as normaal beskou, is dit nie wat die Belastingbetalers gaan doen nie en sal die JBRA en sy lede toesien dat dit nie voortgaan nie !
  Help ons om ‘n verskil te maak in Jeffreysbaai en raak so gou as moontlik ‘n lid van die Jeffreysbaai Inwonersvereniging.  Die lidmaatskap fooi is slegs R100 per jaar, en jy kan selfs 'n nie betalende lid wees!  Die fondse word net benut om ‘n verskil maak in Jeffreysbaai.
Dit is werklik 'n geval van  : Vele hande maak ligte werk!
Gebruik asseblief ons Blog om jou griewe in te dien of kontak my direk as jy nie 'n rekenaarhet nie of as jy nie vertroud is met rekenaars nie.
Ons sal alle insette en klagtes graag wil aanhoor ten einde Jeffreysbaai ‘n ‘Dorp van Drome ‘ te maak.   Benut asb die wonderlike kommunikasie- kanale wat in plek isen maak gebruik van hulle so veel as moontlik.
Dankie.
 Vriendelike groete
 Garth Ford

Message from new JBRA chairman, Garth Ford

Dear Residents and Ratepayers

Firstly , thank you very much to our past Chairmen , Trevor Watkins ( for reviving the JBRA and especially for developing our website ) and to Paul Hjul ( for his legal expertise and for helping to organise the very successful protest march and subsequent lengthy Legal follow ups ) as well as the JBRA Committee Members for developing and supporting the JBRA so diligently. And, of course, a big thank you to our loyal members, voting and non-voting.

Meeting over a cup of coffee, the 2 past chairmen and the current chair came up with the idea of the J Bay Secretariat. This organisation will manage the administrative workload of the JBRA, for a fee, thus enabling the chairman and the committee to concentrate on tackling the issues at hand. The secretariat will also preserve useful expertise and knowledge as the committee changes from year to year. Since it has started, the new Secretariat has been absolutely invaluable.

Please remember that the Government is accountable to the Taxpayers and not the other way round !

One of our main agenda items for this year ( besides keeping Kouga Municipality accountable for service delivery ) will be to identify where we are being overcharged on our Municipal Accounts for electricity supplied . This is where we need your input please !

The Secretariat has set up and distributed an Excel spreadsheet (click here to see this article or here to download the spreadsheet) to members on which Ratepayers can enter their billing dates and the amounts they have been charged for electrical usage over a 2 year period. This only takes a few minutes to fill in. The spreadsheet will show how costs on the sliding scale are pushed up for longer billing periods.
This spreadsheet will enable you to identify where and by how much you are being overcharged on your accounts.
Just from our very first members submission , we have established that he was over charged by R1000 over one year.
This may not sound like much , but there are many people who are being overcharged by much more - if you add up all of the Ratepayers overcharged amounts, it may run into millions !!

We need as many Ratepayers as possible to enter their data into the spreadsheet, and to then email the spreadsheet to info@jbayra.com in order for us to establish how many people are being overcharged.

We can then approach the KM with comprehensive facts and figures to back up our case that we are being overcharged for electricity.

If this is successful then we will do the same for water and sewerage costs as well - so please all support this initiative as soon as possible!

This will be invaluable in keeping KM accountable for overcharged accounts.

Electricity is shortly going to go up by about 13% which will increase our accounts even more - so please join this initiative so we can find their mistakes before it is too late !

Among the important issues that we will be following up on this year will be our sewerage spill problems at main beach and other areas, as well as the serious water purification problems that we are experiencing , especially in Wavecrest. 

These and other vital issues that have been challenged by the DA are refused consideration and even submission in council and are being blatantly ignored. It is of course totally unacceptable that KM is continually ignoring management duties in order to cover up its shortcomings, corruption and  " missing money "  issues - amongst others. Unfortunately we do not recognise this as it is continually painted over as the acceptable norm - and we consequently mistakenly do so as well - to our great peril as our town slowly disintegrates and rots from the inside out ! 

They then try and bring the town down to their level of incompetence so that this appears "normal " .

Sadly for them , this is not going to continue !  

Please sign up as members and support us - the membership fee is only R100 , and you can even be a non paying member for free!

It is really a case  of many hands work together to make light work ! 

Please use our Blog to submit your grievances or contact me directly if you do not have a computer or are un familiar with computers - it is very easy .

We need to hear all of your stories and complaints .  We have these amazing communication channels - lets make use of them as much as possible .

Thank you .

Kouga Municipality Electricity Accounts Unfair and Inflated

Electricity tariffs in Kouga are based on a sliding scale, with the tariff amount increasing significantly with increasing usage. The Kouga Municipality(KM) follows an irregular meter reading program, with meter reading periods varying from 26 days up to 41 days. The varying length of each billing period has a serious effect on the amount billed, pushing medium usage residents into the punitive high usage bracket. This leads to significantly inflated electricity bills despite the average usage remaining the same throughout the period.

This is completely unfair to residents, although it is greatly to the benefit of the municipality who get increased revenue for no increase in usage. When a punitive sliding scale of tariffs is used, it is absolutely essential that a consistent time period for measurement be employed. This is both logical and obvious.

Using a varying time scale would be like allowing the SA Revenue Service to choose what time period to assess your income, sometimes over 6 months, and sometimes over 18 months. The fact that you will be pushed into a higher tax bracket over the 18 months measurement would be unfair and unconstitutional.

There is a simple and widely adopted solution to this variable period metering and billing problem. The year is broken up into 13 periods, 12 periods of 28 days and the last period of 29 days, giving exactly 365 days. Meters can be read at any time and any frequency within this period of 365 days. An average daily usage for the metering period is calculated. This average daily usage is then simply pro-rata’d to the appropriate 28 day segments. This ensures that the billing against the sliding scale is always for a consistent number of days.

The Jeffreys Bay Residents Association has taken up this matter with the officials at the KM. A report from a JBRA committee member appears below. We have also developed an Excel spreadsheet (downloadable here) which residents can use to record and analyse their electricity expenditure. This spreadsheet shows how your electricity costs are distributed across the sliding scale, and the cost to you of inconsistent billing periods pushing you into higher usage categories. All you have to do is enter the start and end billing dates and Total kilowatt hours used from your monthly KM account. If sufficient interest is shown, this spreadsheet can be extended to include water and sewerage billing as well.

Although the KM will undoubtedly protest that their software cannot handle this change, or that it requires a council decision, or that they cannot afford the loss of revenue, that is entirely their problem. In these difficult financial times, Jeffreys Bay residents should not be paying for unfair and inflated electricity billing, no matter what the excuses.

Visit to Kouga Municipality:
High December 2012 Accounts

A JBRA committee member scheduled a meeting at the Kouga Municipality on 6 March 2013 at 14h:00 with the following three officials:

• Ria van Heerden: Income Manager 
• · Wilma le Roux: Bookkeeper 
• · Maureen Dodgens: Accounts

The following aspects were discussed:

1. The Municipality does not stick to a 30 to 31 day period when reading meters.Time periods of 34 to 37 days were for example used in December.
2. High water accounts in December.
3. High sewerage accounts in December. I also asked which sewerage tariff was introduced by Kouga.
4. EMF: What is it used for. 

The answers and solutions on these aspects as answered by the three mentioned officials are as follow:

1. It was established during the discussions of meter readings for December that time periods like 36 and 37 days were used to bill accounts. I made it clear that this is not acceptable as a sliding scale is applicable. I did mention that it is better than last year where the time periods were 41 days twice within three months. Although Mrs Van Heerden used my account as an example she was very reluctant to see that the 34 day period has an influence on an account, especially if your electricity usage falls on the higher levels of the sliding scale. She also went to fetch one of the employees and admitted in front of me that the employee had a meter reading time period of 37 days. I immediately said this is not acceptable. The solution from the officials for this problem is pre-paid meters as you will be able to monitor your electricity usage and then maybe save. I asked Mrs Dodgens to please keep to the 30 to 31 meter reading time periods as this is the other solution to high accounts if you don’t want to use a pre-paid meter. She explained that there are seven people involved with reading meters and that they start from the 18 th of every month in Paradise Beach and Aston Bay to read meters. She did however take note of the request and would try and keep to the 30 to 31 day meter reading time period.

2. High water bills for December. Water was higher in December than the previous account. This also had a significant influence on the sewerage billing. The high water tariffs for Wavecrest Rate payers were also mentioned in the local newspapers two weeks ago. The officials answer was simply that we used too much water in December.

3. Electricity billing for the December holiday period was extremely high. I have examples of accounts that were double the amount of the previous month. Pre-paid meters were mentioned as a solution. They also promised to monitor the next December meter reading period and not go over the 30 to 31 day period. I also asked if the meter readings were forecast or read. Mrs Dodgens replied that it was read, but that if the reading was wrong it will be rectified in the next account. I asked her to keep to the 30 to 31 day time period when reading meters. I asked for and was given the latest applicable sliding scales for water, electricity and sewerage.

4. Sewerage billing increased in December. As the water billing is linked to the sewerage billing it can be understood. The sewerage billing on my account was however more than 200% on one of the three billing aspects. I mentioned this aspect about three times. I also asked about the sewerage billing that was introduced by the Kouga Municipality and they mentioned it was the last sewerage billing aspects on my account. That amount was 200% more than the previous month. Use less water is therefore the solution according to them.

5. EMF. I asked what the EMF was used for by the Municipality and Mrs van Heerden said it was not used for the re-establishment of dunes but for dumping grounds. They gave me the legal aspects thereof.

The meeting took place in quite a good spirit and it was mentioned that they had a meeting in two days’ time with the Director involved with Finances. What exactly they wanted to mention, I am not sure of, but I think we need to show the Municipality that we are closely monitoring their accounts as this affects our pockets.
Findings and solutions

I am not satisfied with all the answers and solutions given by the three officials. Billing of accounts is not fair at this stage and must be rectified. Electricity increases are on its way again and will soon affect all of us even more. The solutions to the problems as experienced with Rate payer Accounts will clearly have to be monitored and investigated as this can save the rate payer money. Pre-paid meters are not the only solution for high electricity accounts. The effect of a longer meter reading period must be established and used to stop the Municipality from transgressing with this aspect and overcharging Rate payers. If the meter reading people start on time and keep to the time periods in each suburb, why must the period be exceeded. High water tariffs in Wavecrest continued in the new accounts for this month and must therefore be investigated as this also has an effect on sewerage and again affects our pockets. The additional sewerage tariff must also be investigated.

After we have calculated and established the effects of increased meter reading time periods and the chaos of new water tariffs, I think we should visit the Municipality again.